James Jennifer Georgina (The Yellow Book)

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James, Jennifer, Georgina. Are the Butlers. Father, mother, daughter.

The autobiography of a family.
An autopsy of book design.

Written between the lines of 1136 meticulously documented postcards, spanning ten years of travel, is the tale of the Butler family. It is a story of abandonment and love, of sickness and health, and of a marriage in transit.

In this bright-yellow, 1200-page volume, world-renowned designer Irma Boom carefully and thoroughly retraces the journey of a lifetime. Her Yellow Book is a monument to book design, and an epic family portrait.

From 1989 to 1999, James and I drove 270,000 miles together. As the roads unrolled, I would think about our daughter Georgina, about what to tell her. We travelled to save James and to protect our daughter. And every day we were apart I wrote to her.

The first act of the book—an exquisitely printed selection of postcards, penned in Jennifer’s steady hand, with James’ irregular interjections—sets the calm, but relentless pace, in which the Butlers confront their obstacles; mile by mile, stamp by stamp, one day at a time.

Stamped this week in 1989

Stamped this week in 1991

Stamped this week in 1992

As many days as there are clouds.

The second act of the saga takes place a decade after the Butlers’ journey ends, when their daughter Georgina is coming of age. In 21 transcribed, informal conversations, the family openly and honestly discusses their shared history, recorded on the postcards.

I don’t remember you and Dad at all before seven.

In the third, and last act of the book, the Butlers’ story is presented in yet a different way. An intimate selection of pictures from family albums, depicts the protagonists, as their lives unfold, both separately and together.

In this exclusive, limited-edition tome, internationally acclaimed bookmaker Irma Boom explores narrative structure and storytelling, in relation to graphic design. Respectfully, yet uncompromisingly, she captures the true story of a family; its beauty, but also its reality.

As equally extraordinary and innovative as the narrative structure, is the design of the rich yellow object itself. A unique three part spine was especially developed for this nine centimeters-thick book, allowing it to open effortlessly at any page.

Amsterdam-based graphic designer Irma Boom's prolific and influential body of work (currently consisting of over 250 books) focuses on the elemental and formal aspects of book design—size, paper, structure, and binding—in relation to the content. During a time when the lineage of book printing history is rapidly changing course, Irma’s designs have brought her international recognition, and commissions including Chanel, Ferrari and the United Nations. She has received numerous honors and awards, including the prestigious Gutenberg‑Preis and Johannes Vermeer Prijs. Irma’s work has been exhibited in museums worldwide, and is included in the permanent collections of the MoMA, and the University of Amsterdam.

During the creation of this book, which entailed an intensive, three-year collaboration between Irma Boom and the Butlers, she invited renowned Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf to make portraits of the family, in his signature style.

I have come back to the family.

Book design and concept by Irma Boom, http://irmaboom.nl

With photos by Erwin Olaf, http://www.erwinolaf.com

Website design and texts by Joris Landman, http://jorislandman.com

Product photos by Ivan Jones, http://ivan-jones.co.uk

Published by Erasmus Publishing Limited, http://erasmuspublishing.com

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